Leather-finishing machine



Apr. 10, 1923.

G. L. WILKS LEATHER FINISHING MACHINE Filed Mar. 1, 1922 5 sheets-sheet,l

mswm' Apr. 10, 1923. 11,450,933

G.-L. WILKS I LEATHER FINISHING MACHINE Filed Mar. 1, 19.22

3 sheets-sheet 2 Apr; 10, 1923.

mswss G. L. WILKS LEATHER FINISHING MACHINE Filed Mar. 1, 1922 5sheets-sheet 5 Patented Apr. 10, 11923.

GEOFFREY LovELL WILKS, or sunsrron, LonDoN, ENGLAND.

LEATHER-FINISHING MACHINE.

Application filed. March 1, 1922. Serial No. 540,199.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEOFFREY LovnLL lVILKs, asubject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 35 Cadogan Road,Surbiton, London, England, have invented new and useful Improvements inLeather-Finishing Machines, of which the following is a specificatioii.

My invention relates to leather finishing machines, such as are usuallyknown as offal or butt strikers, the object being to provide a machinein which the finishing process can be carried out more quickly andefliciently and with less power consumption than is possible with suchmachines as now made.

According to the invention the machine is formed with a bed forsupporting the leather, which bed comprises a narrow surface of greaterlength than width, or a'series of such surfaces, the said surface orsurfaces being convexly curved in the direction of its or their widthand length, the curvature being approximately such that the hide to betreated fits naturally upon it, means operating longitudinally of thesaid surface or surfaces for brushing, striking or otherwise finishingthe leather supported thereon, and

means, which maybe the supporting surface or surfaces, for feeding theleather between the latter and the finishing means.

In a suitable arrangement for carrying out the invention, I provide aframe-work on which are mounted a number,'say two, of pairs of rollersforming the bed of the machine for supporting and feeding the leather,each of thesaid rollersbeing of a shape such that its maximum diameteris at the central portion and it tapers to either end, so as to conformto the shape of a hide supported thereon. The two rollers of each pairare arranged in approximately the same vertical plane and have aninclination to one another, that is to say, an inclination upwards fromthe outer ends to the middle where the meeting ends are connectedtogether by a universal oint which enables the two rollers of each pairto be driven from one en'd.

As has been stated the above shape of the rollers is such that the hideto be treated is supported along the length of the rollers without anyfolds or creases beingformed in the hide which would prejudiciallyaffect the finishing treatment. v

Above each line ofthe rollers there are arranged two travelling endlessbelts, which are preferably passed over pulleys so arranged that onebelt or band travels from the centre to one end of the rollers and theother from the centre to the other end thereof. Each of the travellingbands carries the usual brushes and/or slate strikers or other means,for effecting the finishing operation.

Any suitable driving mechanism may be provided for the actuation of therollers and the travelling bands, and, in practice, it: is alsoadvantageous to mount the travelling band mechanism upon a pivoted frameso that the brush and striker device can be lifted away from the rollerswhen a fresh piece of leather is to be passed on to the said rollers fortreatment.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, I will describe one formby reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a leather finishing machine constructed in accordance withthe invention.

Figure 2 is a plan and Figure 3 an end View thereof.

1 The frame" of the machine comprises two standards a, a connectedtogether by a pair of cross. girdersb. 0, c are pairs" of rollers overwhich the leather to be finished passes, two pairs only being shown,either or both of which pairs" may be employed. d indicates theuniversal'joint connecting therollers of each pair together'sothatrotarymovement imparted to the roller 0 will be imparted'to the roller 0 ofeach pair. As'indicated in Figure Leach roller has its'maximum diameternidway of its ends so that it tapers'towards both ends in'a curved formand the two rollers of each pair are arranged in the same vertical planeand are inclined upwardly from the outer ends so that their axes aredisposed at an angle to each other and the upper surfaces of the rollersform a continuouscur ve, as indicated clearly in Figure 1.1 The rollersc, c are supported at their ends in bearings e mounted on the crossgirder and motionlis imparted to one pair of rollers by a shaft 7forming an extension of the roller 0 of the said painthesaid shaft beingdriven by' a driving shaft 7 through the medium of suitable drivingmechanism whi' c'h comprises a worm-wheel h on thesa'id shaft 7, a wormmeshing with the said worm-wheel and carried on a shaft i. a pulley jloose on'thesaidshaft', a sliding clutch j keyed to the shaft and"engaging clutch teeth on the said pulley, a pulley is driving the pulleyj by a belt and carried by a sleeve Z on a shaft m, a bevel-wheel n onthe said sleeve, a bevel-wheel 0 meshing with the wheel n and mounted ona shaft 39, and another bevel-wheel Q on the said shaft engaging abevel-wheel r on the said driving shaft g, the said driving mechanismbeing mounted in the standard a. The other pair of rollers 0, 0 isdriven from the pair just referred to by sprocket wheels 8 and asprocket chain 8.

t, t are thetwo travelling endless bands arranged above and along thetwo pairs of rollers 0, c and 6 23 indicate two pairs of pulleys overwhich the respective bands 27, t run and by which alone they aresupported. One of the. pair of pulleys t is attached to the sleeve Zwhile one of the pair of pulleys t is mounted freely on a shaft 6*carried in bearingsin the standard (L1, the said pulley being actuatedfrom the shaft 9 through the medium of bevel wheels t shaft t and bevelwheel F. a, a respectively indicate the usual brushes and slate strikerson the bands 2, t for effecting the finishing operation on the leatherpassed over the rollers 0, 0 the said bands with their brushes andstrikers travelling from about the centre of the machine in oppositedirections to the outer ends of one of the rollers of each pair. aindicates spring actuated rollers for pressing against and maintainingthe requisite tension on the bands If, t Instead of the usual brushesmetal wire brushes may be employed.

'0, 2: indicate the pivoted frames supporting the innerends of thetravelling bands t, 25 through the medium of two of the pulleys t and 25so that the brushesuand strikers a can be liftedaw'ay from the rollers0, 0 when a piece 'of leather is to be placed on the latter fortreatment, the said frames being respectively pivoted on the shafts mand t The frames '2), o are supported in the working position by rollerse thereon which rest on the rollers 0, c and are lifted to raise thebrushes and strikers from the leather supported on rollers c, c bytreadle levers w, 20 respectively, the said levers being pivoted to thebases of the standards and connected by cords or the like m to the outerends of the said frames. The said treadles are in pairs, the members ofeach pair being arranged on opposite sides of the machine to enable anattendant stationed at either side of the machine to manipulate both ofthe said frames 11, o as required. 1 indicates pivoted catches forengagement withpinsor projections on the treadle levers w, w to hold thelatter when depressed to raise the frames '0, o in order that theattendant can place the hide in position on the rollers. These catchesare provided with arms whereby they can be actuated by the feet of anattendant to engage them with or disengage them from the pins 7 aretables arranged adjacent to the rollers c, c on opposite sides of themachine to assist to support the hides when being passed over the saidrollers. v

In the operation of the machine, the hide to be finished is passed on toeither pair of rollers c, c and the said rollers are rotated, therebyfeeding the leather forwards, the endless bands being at the same timeset in motion so that, as the hide is advanced over the rollers, thestrikers and brushes scrub and brush the surface of the hide to pro ducethe desired finishing effect.

In order that the direction of rotation of the rollers 0, 0 may bereversed after the hide has passed over the rollers c, 0 in onedirection, pulleys j and k corresponding to the pulleys j and 7a, andconnected by a crossed belt are employed, that is to say, the pulley jis loose on the shaft 2' and the pulley 10 attached to the sleeve Z, theclutch y' being disengaged from the pulley j and engaged with the pulleyThe clutch j is controlled by suitable lever mechanism, not shown,Within reach of the attendant at either side of the machine.

lVhile, in the example above described, the bed consists of one or morepairs of rollers, it will be understood that the bed may be partly orwholly fixed if means are provided for effecting the passage of the hidebetween the bed and the finishing devices.

Claims:

1. A leather finishing machine having a bed to support the leather whichbed is of much greater length than width and is convexly curved in thedirection of its width and length the shape being approximately suchthat the hide to be treated fits naturally upon it, means for brushing,striking or otherwise finishing the hide supported thereon and means forfeeding the hide between the surface of the bed and the finish ingdevices, substantially as described.

2. A leather finishing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein two ormore of the supporting surfaces with the means for treat ing the leatherthereon are arranged side by side, the adjacent treating means workingin opposite directions, substantially as described.

3. A leather finishing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein thesupporting surface or surfaces is or are in the form of a roller orrollers designed to rotate to feed the leather under the finishingmeans, substantially as described.

4. A leather finishing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein two ormore rollers are employed for each supporting surface, the rollers beinginclined with respect to each other and connected by universal joints,

substantially as described.

5; A leather finishing machineas claimed in claim 1, wherein thefinishing: means for each supporting surface are carried by an endlessband, unsupported intermediate of the carrying pulleys, substantially asde scribed.

6. A leather finishing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein thefinishing means consist of endless bands carryingthe finishing devicessupported on pulleys on pivoted frames,.substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

7. In a leather finishing machine, thecombination with a supportingbedcurved convexly, laterally and longitudinally, of a pair of endlessbands disposed transversely of the direction of movement of the leatherover the bed and provided with leather finishing devices, each of saidbands having horizontally disposed portions extending from the outeredge of t-he bed to a point beyond the central portiontliereof, and saidbands being located out of alignment with each other and having portionslying side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed, means fordriving said endless bands in such direction that the portions adjacentto said bed will be moved outwardlytoward the lateral edges of the bed,and means for 6 feeding the leather longitudinally of the bed.

8. In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a bed curvedconvexly, longitudinally and transversely, of a pair of pivoted framessupported adjacent to the lateral portions of the bed and extendinginwardly past the central portion thereof, supporting pulleys carried bysaid frames at their inner and outer ends, endless bands engaging saidpulleys and provided with leather finishing devices, said bands beinglocated in different transverse planes and having their inner portionsextending side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed, andmeans for driving said bands in a direction to cause the portionsthereof adjacent to the bed to be moved outwardly toward the lateraledges of the bed.

9. In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a bed curvedconvexly, longitudinally and transversely, of a pair of pivoted framessupported adjacent to the lateral portions of the bed and extendinginwardly past the central portion thereof, supporting pulleys carried bysaid frames at their inner and outer ends, endless bands engaging saidpulleys and provided with leather finishing devices, said bands beinglocated in different transverse planes and having their inner portionsextending side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed, meansfor driving said bands in'a direction to cause the portions thereofadjacent to the bed to be moved ,outwardly toward the lateral edges ofthe bed, and supports for the inner ends of said pivoted frames,

provided with rollershavingtheir axes disposed transversely to thedirection of travel of the leather,

10. Ina leather finishing n'iachinc, the combination with a bed curvedconvexly, longitudinally and transversely, of a pair of pivoted framessupported adjacent to the lateral portions of the bed and extendinginwardly past the central portion thereof. supporting pulleys carried bysaid frames at their inner and outer ends, endless bands engaging saidpulleys and provided with leather, finishing devices, said bands beinglocated in different transverse planes and having their inner portionsextending side by side adj acent to the central portion of the bed,means for driving said bands in a direction to cause the portionsthereof adjacent to the bed to be moved outwardly toward the lateraledges. of the bed, and means for simultaneously elevating said pivotedframes.

11, In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a bed, curvedconvexly. longitudinally and transversely, of a pairof pivoted framessupported adjacent to the lateral portions of the bed and extendinginwardly past the central portion thereof, supportingpulleys carried bysaid frames at their: inner and outer ends, endless bands engaging saidpulleys and provided with leather finishing devices, said bands beinglocated in different transverse planes and having their inner portionsextending side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed, meansfor driving said bands in a direction. to cause the portions thereofadjacent to the bed to be moved outwardly toward the lateral edges ofthe bed, and means for simultaneously elevating said pivoted frames, andtripping locking devices for temporarily supporting the ivoted frames inelevated position.

12. In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a supportingbed, of a pair of feeding rollers arranged in the same vertical plane,extending transversely across the bed, said rollers having theirgreatest diameter centrally between their ends and decreasing indiameter toward their ends, and having their axes inclined downwardlywith respect to each other from the central portion of the bed towardthe outer edges thereof, endless bands provided with leather finishingdevices, disposed above said rollers and transversely with respect tothe bed,

means for driving said rollers, and means for driving said bands.

13. In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a supportingbed, of a pair of feeding rollers arranged in the same vertical plane,extending transversely across the bed, said rollers having theirgreatest diameter cent-rally between their ends and decreasing indiameter toward their ends,

and having their axes inclined downwardly with respect to each otherfrom the central portion of the bed toward the Outer edges thereof, apair of transversely disposed endless bands supported above said rollersand provided with leather finishing devices, said bands being out ofalignment with each other and each extending from an outer edge of thebed to a point beyond the central portion thereof, said bands havingportions lying side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed,means for driving said rollers to feed the leather longitudinally of thebed, and means for driving said bands so as to cause the pOrtionsthereof adjacent to the rollers to move toward a lateral edge of thebed.

14. In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a bed, of apair of feed rollers disposed transversely thereof and lo cated in thesame vertical plane, said rollers having their greatest diametercentrally between their ends and decreasing in diameter toward theirends, said rollers having their inner ends connected by a universaljoint, driving means connected to one of said rollcrs adjacent to itsouter end, a pair of swinging frames located above said rollers andpivoted respectively at opposite sides of the bed, each of said frames.extending inward beyond the center of the bed, endless bands carried bysaid frames and provided with leather finishing devices, said bandsbeing located out of alignment with each other and having portionsarranged side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed, anddriving means for said bands.

15. In a leather finishing machine, the combination with a bed, of apair of feed rollers disposed transversely thereof, and located in thesame vertical plane, said rollers having their greatest diametercentrally between their ends and decreasing in diameter toward theirends, said rollers having their inner ends connected by a universaljoint, driving means connected to one of said rollers adjacent to itsouter end, a pair of swinging frames located above said rollers andpivoted respectively at opposite sides of the bed, each of said framesextending inward beyond the center of the bed, endless bands carried bysaid frames and provided with leather finishing devices, said bandsbeing located out of alignment with each other and having portionsarranged side by side adjacent to the central portion of the bed,driving means for said bands, and supporting devices for the inner endsof said swinging frames provided with rollers at their lower ends forengaging the leather supported upon said feed rollers.

GEOFFREY LOVELL WILKES.

